Join us as we launch a new year of PFLAG Alamance,welcoming Beth & Pete as our new Co-Presidents,reflecting on the experiences we have shared during thepast year, issues you are facing today, and the hopesyou have for 2018.

Note a Different Meeting Room:Fellowship Room on 2nd FloorElon Community Church UCC271 N. Williamson Ave.Elon, NC

Please enter the building through the covered walk behind the sanctuary. Plenty of parking there.Weather cancellation policy: In case of snow or ice, we will followthe cancellation policy of the Chesterfield County Schools.

A special invitation to a viewing….

January 26, 2018 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Our Open and Affirming Ministries group at United Church of Chapel Hill invites everyone to come view the video Forbidden: Undocumented and Queer in Rural America. Forbidden is a feature length documentary about an inspiring young man whose story is exceptional, although not unique. Moises is like the thousands of young people growing up in the US with steadfast dreams but facing overwhelming obstacles. This film chronicles Moises’ work as an activist traveling across his home state of North Carolina as a voice for his community, all the while trying to forge a path for his own future.

The recent Supreme Court oral argument in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission took the case in a direction neither side may have expected. The facts are well known: Jack Phillips, the owner of Colorado’s Masterpiece Cakeshop, refused to bake a wedding cake for same-sex couple Charlie Craig and David Mullins, based on his religious belief that marriage should be reserved for a man and a woman. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission ruled that Phillips’s action violated a Colorado law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Phillips was clear that his faith motivated his decision, but his lawyers framed the case around freedom of speech, not freedom of religion. The strategy behind that choice was clear. The Supreme Court long ago decided that when a law applies to everyone and was not enacted in order to suppress a particular religious belief, it does not violate religious freedom just because some people may feel compelled to violate it for religious reasons. And surely there is no better example of such a law than one banning discrimination in employment, housing, or public accommodations.

Because of this well-established precedent, Masterpiece Cakeshop’s lawyers made the strategic decision to try to shoehorn their case into a line of Supreme Court decisions striking down, on free speech grounds, laws that forced individuals to communicate a government-approved message. Their briefs described Phillips as a “cake artist” and waxed poetic about the creative energy on display in his creations. They argued that making a wedding cake implicates the baker in celebrating the couple’s marriage; thus, forcing Phillips to sell a wedding cake to Craig and Mullins would force him to use his artistry to send a message – approving a same-sex marriage – he didn’t want to send.

The compelled speech argument fit awkwardly with Phillips’s own faith-centered account of why he turned Craig and Mullins away, and Tuesday’s argument revealed that at least five justices appear skeptical of the speech argument. Click to read the rest of the article

PFLAG NATIONAL ON RECENT COURT DECISIONS

PFLAG National periodically reports on issues of importance to the LGBTQIA population, including political and judicial actions. The following two items were reported recently on the PFLAG website.

COURT MATTERS

Federal court in California is latest to rule against President Trump’s trans military service ban; separately, D.C. Circuit Appeals Court denies Department Of Justice stay request on removal of trans military service ban, slated to begin on January 1st. On December 22nd, the District Court for the Central District of California rejected President Trump’s pursuit to ban transgender service members from the US armed forces. The court issued a nationwide preliminary injunction, requested by plaintiffs in Stockman v. Trump, to halt enforcement of Trump’s trans military ban while it is being challenged in the courts. On the same day, the Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied the Justice Department’s request for a stay on trans military enlistments that are now slated to start on Jan 1st. The three-judge panel noted that trans people “are already serving the country openly in the military.”

Federal judge denies relief for former Atlanta fire chief who distributed anti-gay book at work to City of Atlanta employees. U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May denied relief to Kelvin Cochran – who distributed a book at work saying men who engage in homosexual or extramarital sex are “un-Godly” and “wicked” sinners and their deaths would be celebrated. Cochran sued the City of Atlanta for being fired, claiming his defense on the basis of his freedom of speech, association and religion claims.

Give a Shoutout to Elon U. Dining Managers!

All 20-to-25 carved time in their December Staff Meeting for a Gender & LGBTQIA Center Training on responding to student concerns around being misgendered and/or referred to by terms like “honey, darling, sweetie” by staff in Elon’s dining halls & retail locations. Southern hospitality, dining culture, geographical differences, trans identities, gender pronouns, and the current climate around sexual harassment were all elements covered in this session, preparing managers for important conversations with all their frontline food service staff members. Shoutout to Carrie Ryan, TJ Bowie, Pulkit Vigg, Mike Bellefeuil, & Beth Baggs for organizing this training!

Recommended by PFLAG National….GLAAD (formerly the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) is a U.S. non-governmental media monitoring organization founded by LGBT people in the media.

‘Fresh Off the Boat’ to ‘One Day at a Time’ Are the Family-Friendly Shows Leading the Charge for Youth Coming-Out Stories

Queer inclusion in all ages of programming is on the rise on TV,
according to GLAAD.
Hanh Nguyen
Dec 13, 2017 7:35 pm

[Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers from “Fresh Off the Boat” Season 4, Episode 10, “Do You Hear What I Hear?,” the first season of Netflix’s “One Day at a Time” and Season 2 of Disney Channel’s “Andi Mack.”]

“What up, girl. You gay?
You play any instruments?
Holla back at me.”

That eloquent haiku, scrawled on a coffee cup, is one of the first, albeit clumsy, attempts by “Fresh Off the Boat” character Nicole (Luna Blaise) to figure out what it means to live as a gay individual. Coming out has been an incremental process for her this season, and in Tuesday’s episode, she’s taking the next step. After developing a crush on a local barista at HotJava, Nicole considers communicating in poetry via paper cup to determine if the feeling is mutual.

Mainstream TV has come a long way since Ellen DeGeneres’ character came out on her self-titled sitcom 20 years ago. And these days, shows like ABC’s “Fresh Off the Boat,” Netflix’s “One Day at a Time,” and Disney Channel’s “Andi Mack” have put youth coming-out stories at the front and center. It’s a trend that GLAAD hopes will continue.

During a panel at the Television Critics Association press tour this past summer, GLAAD Vice President of Programs Zeke Stokes said, “One of the things we’re focused on right now at GLAAD is ensuring inclusive LGBTQ characters and storylines in children’s and family programming. There are as many as 14 million children living in families led by LGBTQ heads of household, and these children and families deserve to see themselves seen.”

If you haven’t already sent in your dues, please consider joining PFLAG Alamance so that we can increase the impact of our membership as we work for support, education and LGBTQ equality in our County.

Just send us your name, address, telephone and email address, along with $25 check, payable to PFLAG Alamance. This covers your local membership plus membership in PFLAG National.